It’s no secret that the University of Oregon has been updating its look and functionality over the past few years — mountains of rubble, towering cranes, sledgehammers and tow trucks have made their home among the brick buildings and tall trees in Eugene.

Recent successes have included the new journalism building, Allen Hall, which opened winter of 2012 and the new Lewis Integrative Science building, which opened just this past spring. The Student Recreation Center is also under construction and set to be completed in January 2015.

But the latest construction has moved to the heart of campus as EMU renovation is well underway, and the spray-painted student artwork that completely covered the old 1970s portion of the building during spring term is now history.

According to the EMU renovation coordinator Daniel Geiger, there are four main construction phases to the project. Phase 1 — reopening of the Craft Center — has already been completed.

“That was the first thing we had to do. We couldn’t relocate it temporarily because it was such a complicated program, so we cleared out the area and built a new one,” Geiger said.

Much of this has to do with the fact that the craft center is filled with rooms for printmaking, glassblowing, ceramics and woodwork, which have complex machines.

“Previously, the Craft Center was forced into a strange place but now we’ve really been able to plan out studio space and it looks fantastic.”

He said that classes have been running smoothly since the reopening earlier this summer, and students are encouraged to drop by and take a look, or even get a membership to enjoy the perks of renovation until the rest of the construction is finished.

Phase 2 — demolition — is currently underway and should be completed mid-late August. So, by the time fall term starts up, students can expect to see construction of the new wing.

After phase 3 is completed and the new wing is built, the final step will be to renovate the 1950s portion of the building, which is where the fishbowl and club spaces are located.

Notable changes will include a pub in the downstairs section near the Buzz and a new space for campus radio.

Geiger says that in all, the project is on schedule and budget, a big deal for projects of such grand scale.

The brand new EMU is set to reopen spring of 2016 with a big party, but until then students, staff and all who are interested and not in Eugene can watch the process live on the EMU’s website.